The use of individual, small scale, test instruments, by students and scientists is important both to achieve savings in volumes and weights of solvents and samples used, particularly in universities, for cost savings, and also to be environmentally beneficial in that smaller amounts of refuse and waste material and refuse is generated. Very often, however, as instruments are reduced in scale to achieve such savings in volumes and weights, accuracy and ease of use is frequently sacrificed, or alternatively cost savings in material are lost due to increased cost of miniaturized instruments which outweigh the cost of material savings.
Furthermore, exposure to chemical material is now recognized to be injurious to health of scientists and students, and accordingly, it is important that laboratory equipment be designed to provide a closed or semi-closed laboratory climate, wherein physical contact with chemical solutions and vapors is held to a minimum.
Also for greater speed in setting up experimental experiments, and for greater clarity and better understanding, it is important for students to conduct individual procedures employing personal test kits for greater involvement in the procedures and the enumerated test steps in a closer proximity to observing the chemical reactions and results obtained therefrom.
Applicant is aware of prior art chemistry kits, particularly micro-organic chemistry kits which have been designed and furnished as single purpose systems. Furthermore, the components of these sets are difficult to manipulate due to their small size and are easily broken because they are made with ground glass joints. One such miniaturized biological assembly is covered by U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,152, to Brown, which discloses a miniature chamber assembly that provides a miniature capillary environment. Applicant is also aware of small scale laboratory test kits having a structure and a range which facilitates education of students, or alternatively, adapted for single purpose diagnostic testing. One such small scale laboratory kit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.: 3,348,921 to Katz et al., showing an integrated chemical laboratory having flasks and a beaker test tubes and a burette tube, and including a T-connector and valve. A similar test kit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,610 to Sardisco et al., covers a test kit for field analysis of plant tissue, the test kit configured to provide a test structure and arrangement for field use. With reference to diagnostic kits, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,333 to Dole et al., discloses a disposable hand held diagnostic kit having a specimen support member and a plurality of liquid receptacles means for applying liquids to the support member.
However applicant has found that prior art devices fail to provide a test system for configuring a substantial number of test configurations, or incorporates a modular design adapted for forming a large number of test setups that is small scale, accurate, easy to operate and includes interchangeable parts which are constructed on impact-resistant material and are directed to providing environmentally beneficial savings of waste material including hazardous waste material.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide for a personal, miniaturized laboratory test kit, which is adapted for multipurpose use and is configured for individually performing a plurality of chemical tests and procedures consisting of interchangeable, multifunctional connecting apparatus which is simple and effective to employ in the arrangement of multiple test configurations, which is economical, is adapted to use small volumes and weight quantities, is safer to use by employing a controlled laboratory environment, does not sacrifice manual control of the instruments and is sufficiently accurate for use in industry and in laboratory testing and to a method of arranging the apparatus to provide for multiple configurations of test stands.